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| I was just wondering how often do people figure 8, is it on every cast or just when you have follows? |
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Posts: 462
Location: Madison Wi. Chain | Good question, I figure 8 everytime with at least one full turn. BG |
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Posts: 734
| If the water is really dark you should do it every single time, if the water is really clear you should still do it every time. I always start my 8 with a big L and then you can see them if they are following. Always a good idea to do the 8 everytime. Sometimes you only see one hot fish all day you might as well be doing your 8 for when she shows her face. Also longer rods (at least 8 foot) make it really easy to figure 8. |
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Posts: 8772
| Used to just do an L and figure 8 if there was a fish there, but too many people catch too many fish on the 8 that they never even saw follow in for me to NOT figure 8 every cast. |
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Posts: 663
| Every cast and especially do a couple turns at least in dark water or at night. |
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| I rarely do it...just an L until I see a fish and then a figure 8. I agree witht DougJ school of thought that you are wasting casting time for the most part. I can think of only a few fish I missed by not figure 8ing each cast over the years and would have to assumer the extra 20 or so cast each day have made up for those 10 times over..BenR |
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Posts: 10
Location: Verona, WI | I figure 8 every cast. There are alot of times that you will never see a following fish. They will follow yards behind or under the lure in many cases. The only thing that makes them get aggressive is that sudden turn or change in the lure's behavior. I will also give it a few extra turns of the ol' 8 every few casts. Ya never know when they are waiting not too far away. Basicly I do it every time at least a couple turns. It has paid off many times on some really good fish, that I would never had the chance at if I had just yanked the bait out of the water. |
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Posts: 284
Location: Fishing the weeds | I figure 8 on every retrieve. And usually more than once. I've caught to many fish on the second 8 to ignore doing it. |
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Posts: 3864
| Every cast and a couple times around.
One dark night in 04 I tried figure 8-ing under the back boat light, plus I had the headlamp on. My eyes were suprised. It seemed like I had a follow every 15'th cast or so. All excited, I began going around 4-5 times and on one of those, on like the 5'th time around, I caught a fat 43", biggest that year. Boy is that fun, boatside strikes in the middle of the night.
Be aware that your right forearm will become Popeye-like. |
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Posts: 2010
| if you a watching your bait properly going around on a full figure 8 every cast IS a waste of time during daylight. I love nothing better than catching fish boatside, but you have to get them "coming" to catch them boat side....So if your in "search" mode do a smooth L and WATCH BEHIND your bait....come into a half turn bring bait toward surface ..if nothing -fire another cast.....Now there are times to figure 8 after each cast.
1) you just had a big fish follow recently(same day) in the area
2) You are on a spot on a spot .....maybe you have caught fish here in the past
3) You think/feel something "might" have been following earlier in the retrieve
....there are some other reasons(you get the idea).. IMO you are not being effiecient doing a full 8 on every cast if you are in "search" mode..... being ready to go into the 8 is the key.
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Put me in the L-turn group.
Catching fish on the Figure8 is a passion of mine... and I actually tailer many of my offerings to specifically catch muskies on the Figure8.... but despite that... I never do a BLIND Figure8. Does it cost me a fish or two each season? Probably. But I feel I catch many more than I miss... buy paying attention and doing a good L-turn as part of my lead-in to the next cast.
If they don't show... they won't go. That's my motto for only doing an L-turn.
Edited by jlong 3/31/2006 2:04 PM
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | Put me in the "L" group as well. No follow after an "L", and it's off to the next cast. It also greatly depends on the waters you fish, and the style of fishing you do. For me, it is a waste of time to do it while fishing for suspended fish. I have never boated a fish on the 8 fishing suspended. I have boated them using a different technique though. The good old dead stick! |
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| I L unless I see a fish in clear water. I will do an eight in dark water or when fishing at night. |
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Posts: 484
Location: St. Louis, MO., Marco Is., FL, Nestor Falls, ON | I'm with jlong. An L every cast and figure 8 only when I see a follow or at night. More casts equal more fish, generally. And yes, I do lose a fish or two each year by not seeing them soon enough. But in over 100 days muskie fishing each year, that's not too bad. |
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Posts: 20
| for a while i used to do a full 8 every cast until i fished with a guide and saw that he just did a quick L and fired
the lure back out. i began doing that thinking that i would get more casts in until i missed about a
dozen followers after a while of doing that. most of the time they would just appear out of no where right
when i would pull my lure out of the water and stare at me and i would try to put the lure back in
there face. i think one good figure 8 after the cast will be worth it in the long run. |
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Posts: 4266
| I will make the lure change direction on every cast. Many fish are unseen even when close to the boat and a sudden change of direction can trigger them.
If I have a lazy follow, I will figure 8 for a little while. I used to figure 8 small fish thinking a big fish might be following too, but I gave up on that theory.
If I have a hot follow. I will figure 8 for up to 5 minutes.
If I'm using a glider, I don't figure 8 as much because it's hard to do.
One fish I caught by moving the lure into a figure 8, and then pulled it all of the way out of the water when it was high in the corner and slammed it against the surface of the water on the other end of the 8 causing a big splash and then just left it slow sink, and the fish came from out of nowhere and ate it. Tried that many times since, and never caught another fish.
Beav |
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Posts: 381
| Big Gun
Hi Its Nxtcast, drop me a line [email protected] |
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Posts: 3864
| Hmmm.....I suppose I should explain I 8 on every cast because I'm almost always in water that is too deep to see the bottom, especially with a chop on the water. Some of my biggest follows have been fish that were not just behind the bait, but a few feet deeper than the bait, too. Sometimes quite a bit deeper, like 6-8'. Seems the fish that followed in this manner were always bigger as opposed to smaller.
But I do recognize that the members who posted "waste of time" above are folks who know more than me and who cath lots more fish than I do. So I'm going to reconsider my 8 habits based on their methods. |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Ranger - 4/2/2006 9:38 AM
Some of my biggest follows have been fish that were not just behind the bait, but a few feet deeper than the bait, too. Sometimes quite a bit deeper, like 6-8'. Seems the fish that followed in this manner were always bigger as opposed to smaller.
Ranger, have you had much success convertings those types of follows into strikes? If so, care to elaborate how? Thanks.
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | I "L" every cast, and watch my bait closely coming in and at the "L", not so much the bait but for things happening behind the bait (fish, flashes, humps, and just general things that look different). It helps to have good polarized glasses, and lots of time on the water watching. I never figure-8 every cast and so far as I've seen in 30 years of guiding no one has ever caught a fish in my boat on the LOTWs doing a blind figure-8 and I get lots of folks who do them every cast! The question that I always ask them is how many fish have you caught doing this? Almost all have told me that they have never caught a fish, but do it because they read it in a magazine. If you have good glasses, and watch, and KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR (many folks can't see the fish) you'll catch lots of fish on figure-8's. If you do an nice smooth and rather long "L", (I do this while switching hands and pushing the free spool button), and then going into a figure-8 if there's a fish, or firing away with the next cast. This seems to be the most efficient way to do this. If a fish is following so far behind the lure that you can't see it the chances of catching fish are very slim. The time you spend making a full figure-8 or two is time better spent casting to a different location. I alway think that blind figure-8's are about equivalent to sitting in a deer blind and taking a shot in the woods ever half hour or so to see if you will kill a deer.
I've fished with lots of great fishermen, and there's not a one of them who does a full figure-8 after every cast, yet all of them catch many fish on figure-8's. The secret is to be able to spot the fish following.
All that said, and I suppose there are folks who catch a fish or two doing them. I catch many fish each year on figure-8's on the LOTWs. If you don't know how to do a figure-8 you are probably missing a fair number of fish on many waters. I've fished a fair number of places and some waters figure-8's work and some places they don't seem to. I'll suspect that there are waters that blind figure-8 work. If you are on heavily pressured water, so that most of the fish are pulled from the shoreline, or are suspended over open water (so they could indeed come from under the boat) then maybe a blind figure-8 could work, but I'll still bet that another cast in a new spot would be more effective.
I don't do much night fishing, and I would guess that when I was in a very productive spot I would do at least a half circle (many fish hit on the first turn), because I can't see what the fish are doing. But to do several figure-8's even at night would seem to be counterproductive, I'd rather cast in a new spot.
Doug Johnson |
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| I will say this...I have used high quality polarized glasses in the past...always glass lenses as my eyes are pretty sensative to light...first day out today with ocean waves backwater green...there is no comparison to the other brands...freakin exciting all the things you can see...these glasses are unreal...seriously unreal...until you try them you cannot comprehend the difference between these and the rest...Ben...murky water, glide bait, seeing a fish come from about 10 feet away like a white missile...unreal.. |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | dougj - 4/2/2006 6:29 PM
I alway think that blind figure-8's are about equivalent to sitting in a deer blind and taking a shot in the woods ever half hour or so to see if you will kill a deer. Doug Johnson
Hahahahhaaa...... I LOVE IT! Great analogy DougJ!!!!
DougJ makes a great point regarding the efficiency of using the L-turn to lead into your next cast (switch hands if you need to, push freespool, position your body, etc.). Toss in BenR's comment regarding good polarized glasses to help aid in seeing following fish... and you should be all set for a good routine without breaking your back after every cast to do a blind Figure8.
Oh yeah... and Travis Kopke's remarks for utilizing boatside triggers is a good one too. Especially for lures that suck on the Figure8.... like glide baits for example.... or any lure that you incorporate PAUSES to its action.
Great posts guys!
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Posts: 3864
| Hey Jlong,
I don't believe I've almost ever triggered one of those deep follows into a strike. Except once, she was a nice 44 on a 7.5 weighted-to-suspend Granny. Man, from the beginning I was workin' the bait back sooooo slow. Full 10-15 second pauses all the way back. Nipple-get-hard stuff as with 2 already in the net I had figured that was what was workin'. She blew up after a few turns under the bait. Amazing to see in gin-clear water. I could see her gills and mouth flaring in/out up/down the whole time. I'm guessing the rest were lazy follows that would likely ever never hit. Maybe that's your point? A respectable one, if so.
As far as shooting in the dark at a noise, blow it out yer beezer. I got a 44" shooting in the dark, and compared to deer hunting, it was much more rewarding than killing an a$$hole from Chicago. In MI, the local authorities let you off with a $61 ticket for killing a jerk from Chicago during deer season. And if his blood alcohol content breaks legal limit for DUI at time of death you get $50, if between 6am and noon, you get paid $100. Crimmins, I can make money shooting those guys. Shooting in the dark...please..
I guess lately I'm totally into getting the fish every cast every time all the way thru. And I do it from hour #1 till I go home, sometimes maybe hour #16. Hour by hour, as I don't see a fish, I get more excited. Next cast, next cast. Think I'm lyin?
Like cops watching my car drive down the road, the bit@h is always always there so I better always always behave that way. Fewer regrets that way, me thinks. |
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Figure 8